Lidded containers

ABSTRACT

A lidded container made of plastics material comprises a body (10) with a top rim (11) and a lid (12) with a flange (18) for sealing engagement inside the rim (11). The lid (12) has a web (17) part carrying said flange (18), which depends therefrom, and also carrying a depending skirt (16) for surrounding the outside of the rim (11), said skirt (16) having a plurality of inwardly-directed projections (21) each engageable in latching relationship in a recess (31) on the outside of the rim (11), and said web part (17) having apertures (24) corresponding to said projections (21), whereby a tool can be inserted through each aperture (24) to disengage the corresponding projection (21) from said recess (31).

This invention is concerned with lidded containers, and relatesparticularly, but not exclusively, to lidded containers for paint.

Paint has conventionally been supplied in metal containers having metallids which fit inside the tops of the containers. However, metalcontainers have various disadvantages, and in particular are liable todamage if subjected to impact, e.g. by dropping, during transit. Also,such impact may cause displacement of the lids, and, in order tominimise the risk of such displacement, it is necessary to provide clipsor boxes to retain the lids. Unfortunately, such clips, (which are madeas separate components), or boxes complicate the packaging operation,and involve substantial extra costs.

Making the container of a plastics material instead of metal providesthe possibility of significantly reducing the risk of impact damage. Thedesirability of providing means for minimising risk of displacement ofthe lids would, however, still exist, and the present invention seeks todeal with this by providing a plastics container having a simple andeffective lid-retaining means.

According to the present invention, there is provided a lidded containermade of plastics material, said container comprising a body with a toprim and a lid with a flange for sealing engagement inside said rim,characterised in that the lid has a web part carrying said flange, whichdepends therefrom, and also carrying a depending skirt for surroundingthe outside of the rim, said skirt having a plurality ofinwardly-directed projections each engageable in latching relationshipin a recess on the outside of the rim, and said web part havingapertures corresponding to said projections, whereby a tool can beinserted through each aperture to disengage the corresponding projectionfrom said recess.

Any suitable kind of plastics material may be employed, but the plasticsmaterial should be of a resiliently flexible nature. The plasticsmaterial should also be resistant to materials to be stored in thecontainer. For example, if the container is for gloss paint, theplastics material should be resistant to the solvent in the paint. Forthis purpose, we have found that a polyester plastics material isparticularly suitable.

The rim may be inwardly or outwardly projecting but preferably has aninwardly-directed flange, and it is against this flange that the lid'sweb-borne flange seats. The whole rim portion of the container may bemade as a separate part, which is then securely mounted (by welding,say) on to the upper edge of the container body.

There are preferably at least three of the inwardly-directedprojections, and (of course) a corresponding number of apertures.

Preferably, at each aperture said skirt has thinner and therefore weakerportions (e.g. provided by internal or external grooves) on each side ofeach projection, whereby leverage by said tool can cause the skirt tofracture and the part of the skirt between the thinner portions(together with the associated projection) to become detached from thelid.

The projections and the rim are preferably so formed that, when the lidis pressed on to the container body, the projections ride over a rib onthe outside of the rim before entering said recess, but that theprojections cannot ride over the rib in the reverse direction.

It will therefore be seen that the container has releasablelid-retaining or--latching means near the outside and sealing meansbetween the lid and rim spaced inwardly from the lid retaining means.

The container can be of any shape and size, the rim portion (ifseparate) and the lid then matching this. Generally, however, it is mostconvenient--equally for paint containers--if the whole is eventuallycylindrical, with the lid therefor annular and the rim annular.

The following is a description, though only by way of example, of anembodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanyingschematic drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a section view through part of the top of a container with alid resting thereon but not in its sealed position,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1 but with the lid closedinto its sealed position, and

FIG. 3 is a plan view, on a smaller scale, of part of the top of thelid.

The container shown in the drawings comprises three injection-mouldedplastics components, namely a container body 10, a rim member 11 weldedinto the top of the container body so as to form part therof, and a lid12.

The body 10 is of cylindrical shape, and the rim member 11 is of annularform, having a lowermost flange 13 welded inside the top of thecontainer, an upstanding flange 14, and an inwardly projecting flange15.

The lid 12 is circular, and has an outer flange 16 depending from theoutside of an annular web 17. An inclined inner flange 18 depends fromthe inside of the web 17. From the bottom of the flange 18, a sealingflange 19 extends downwards, and a central part 20 of the lid extendsradially inwards. In the drawings, the central part 20 is shown with adomed configuration, but it could be of a different shape, e.g. it couldbe of flat disc-like configuration.

As best seen in conjunction with FIG. 3, the outer flange 16 has aplurality (in practice, at least three) of internal projections 21equally spaced circumferentially of the flange 16. Each projection 21has an upper face 22 disposed in a plane normal to the lid axis, and aninclined lower face 23. The web 17 has apertures 24 at positionscorresponding to the projections 21. Each aperture 24 extendscircumferentially of the lid over and on each side of its correspondingprojection 21. At each end of each aperture 24, the outer flange 16 isweakened throughout its depth by an internal groove 25 (see FIG. 3).

The rim flange 14 has an outwardly-extending annular rib 26 with aninclined upper face 27 and a lower face 28 disposed in a plane normal tothe container axis. In conjunction with an upper face 29 on an externalannular projection 30 on the rim members 11, the face 28 defines anannular recess 31 on the outside of the rim members.

The inwardly projecting flange 15 on the rim member is downwardlyinclined for the greater part of its width, but terminates in a sealingportion 32 extending first radially and finally downwards.

The sealing flange 19 on the lid has an outwardly-extending extendingannular protrusion 33 which is spaced below the flange 18 and which,together with the flange 18, defines an annular groove 34.

The manner in which the lid closes the container will be evident from acomparison of FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, the lid is simply lying on topof the rim member. To close the container, the lid is pressed down intothe position of FIG. 2. Owing to the inclined faces 23 and 27, and tothe resilience of the plastics material, when the lid is pressed downthe projections 21 ride over the rib 26, and the projections enter therecess 31. The faces 22 and 28 then positively prevent removal of thelid, except as hereinafter described. At the same time, the annularprotrusion 33 rides over the sealing portion 32, which enters the groove34 to provide sealing engagement between the lid and the rim member.

In order to remove the lid, a tool, such as a screwdriver, is insertedinto the apertures 24, and used as a lever to break off the parts of theflange 16 between the grooves 25. Those parts take with them theprojections 21, and the positive latched or locked relationship betweenthe lid and the rim members ceases to exist. The tool is then insertedthrough one or more of the apertures 24 and between the flanges 15 and18, and used as a lever to move the annular protrusion 33 up past thesealing portion 32, when the lid is free to be removed. The lid can, ofcourse, be replaced, when the sealing arrangement (but not the lockingarrangement) will be operative.

The provision of separate locking and sealing arrangements enables bothto serve their desired purposes without conflict. The constructiondescribed can also be made without requiring specially complicatedinjection moulding tools.

Although the invention has been described herein in terms of containersfor paint, there is, of course, no reason why the containers of thisinvention should not be used for any other materials that needs to bestored securely but releasably.

We claim:
 1. A lidded container made of plastics material, saidcontainer comprising a body with a top rim and a lid with a flange forsealing engagement inside said rim, characterised in that the lid has aweb part carrying said flange, which depends therefrom, and alsocarrying a depending skirt for surrounding the outside of the rim, saidskirt having a plurality of inwardly-directed projections eachengageable in latching relationship in a recess on the outside of therim, and said web part having apertures corresponding to saidprojections, whereby a tool can be inserted through each aperture todisengage the corresponding projection from said recess.
 2. A liddedcontainer according to claim 1 characterised in that the rim has aninwardly-directed flange against which the flange of the lid seats.
 3. Alidded container according to claim 1 characterised in that thecontainer has a rim portion made as a separate part, which is mounted onthe upper edge of the container body.
 4. A lidded container according toclaim 1 characterised in that there are at least three of saidinwardly-directed projections and a corresponding number of apertures.5. A lidded container according to claim 1 characterised in that at eachaperture said skirt has thinner and therefore weaker portions (e.g.provided by internal grooves) on each side of each projection, wherebyleverage by said tool can cause the skirt to fracture and the part ofthe skirt between the thinner portions (together with the associatedprojection) to become detached from the lid.
 6. A lidded containeraccording to claim 1 characterised in that the projections and the rimare so formed that, when the lid is pressed on to the container body,the projections ride over a rib on the outside of the rim beforeentering said recess, but that the projections cannot ride over the ribin the reverse direction.